Alive and Burning

Photo is courtesy of Israeli painter and photographer Yaacov Kaszemacher, who created a series of Star of David paintings, each revealing another unknown aspect of this mysterious symbol. Here we see the Hebrew word Chai, ALIVE, in the center of a white and blue star of David and fire burning above the letters.

Copyright: Yaacov_Kaszemacher 2007
Contact : kaszema@netvision.net.il
97246974566

P.S.
Today, 12 October 2007, I got a note that this work will take part in an exhibition titled 60 years old [Israel] opens its eyes
Opening: 15.10.2007
Rosh Pina Museum
In the catalog of the exhibition I found the following caption about it:

Truth and Absurdity, color giclee print on canvas. 56 x 56
The basis of this design is a large central Magen David constructed of 9 bars . As drawn by the artist, it is an optical illusion appearing three dimensional when in truth, it can not exist in three dimensions. The Hebrew word
אמת
has a numerical value of nine. The apparent contradiction between truth and the absurd is analogous to the existence of the Jewish people, who despite the hardships of exile and countless persecutions continue to survive. The nine bars are joined at 13 different points, creating 12 triangles. 13 refers to the
י''ג מדות הרחמים
and is also the gematria for the words
אחד
and
אהבה
Thus through the 13 qualities of HaShem's mercy, plus love the twelve tribes of Israel are united. This 9-bar Magen David was originally created by Kaszemacher as a pen and ink line drawing. In later renditions he made large acrylic paintings. What you see here began as a painting, then was photographed for scanning into a computer and then digitally manipulated adding the word
חי
life aglow with the fire of Torah. This basic design was then reduced and reproduced as multiple stars on the background. These smaller stars represent the sparks of the Jewish people as they drawn into the
קלל
from the six directions of the world